AAW symposium impressions

[John Beaver]

First off, if you have never been to a AAW symposium, it should be on your must do list.

I hope others will add to this with their impressions.

For me the highlight was just interacting with so many great and interesting turners. I made some great friends and we shared some good ideas.

Here are some of my impressions of this year.
The vendor area felt smaller then usual, and I didn't see too many new products. The Carter Products steady rest is very well thought out, and would be worth checking out if you're in the market.
The instant gallery was phenomenal with a nice addition being the Riley gallery bringing some great pieces.
They don't like to repeat demonstrators back to back, and they really brought in the cream of the crop last year for the 25th, so overall I would say this years rotations were slightly less interesting. That said, there were some really great sessions.

I personally spent a lot of time in a lot of panel discussions about marketing, business, and gallery relationships and found those were strong. I didn't go to that many demonstrations, but here are some of my highlights.
Richard Raffan - bowl turning. Everyone should see him turn a bowl once - especially fun was watching him turn right through the wall. Even the best do it.
Bill Luce - round bottom bowl turning. Completely different approach from Raffan, but very interesting to see his techniques and precision.
Jerry Bennett - scribbling in wood. Only a powerpoint, but interesting to see his technique. Not impossible, but very difficult
Alain Mailland. Utterly fascinating. You can't do this.
Jaques Vesserey - color. His presentation was o:k, his attention to detail is amazing.

Others that people were talking about.
Cliff Lee, Curt Theobald, Mike Jackofsky, Ron Gerton - turning with a strobe, Carole Floate - marbling on wood.
And there were many others. Something for everyone.

Overall the main thing I personally came home with is: the quality of work out there is absolutely incredible and I am going to strive to up my game even more, and continue to push the envelope as far as I can.

[Brian Brown]

Overall the main thing I personally came home with is: the quality of work out there is absolutely incredible and I am going to strive to up my game even more, and continue to push the envelope as far as I can.

Gee John,

Considering the quality and high level of your work, if you can up your level, I guess I'll just quit now. :D

[Alan Trout]

Overall I would have to agree with John's view of the symposium. I would like to ad that the time spent with my piers in conversation was every bit as enlightening as any panel discussion or demonstration. The time I spent with John, Andy DiPietro, Deric wiedman, and so many others helped me understand their inspirations and goals. These wonderful connections were forged out of our similar passions in a common environment. It was worth the price of admission.

Alan

[Kathy Marshall]

What a weekend!
I left Wittmann (just NW of Phx) at 4am on thursday and drove straight through to San Jose and arrived about 4pm (missed a turn off and managed to end up going right through LA at rush hour....ugggggh). Met Baxter Smith and his wife Melody (really great people) and had a nice dinner together. Met John Beaver and Alan Trout when I dropped off my pieces for the Instant Gallery (again, really nice people).
I knew the gallery would have some spectacular pieces, but if I had seen it beforehand, I might just have left my pieces at home. I console myself with the fact that most of the turners in the instant gallery have been turning far longer than I have, some with more formal turning education, and most if not all having received a much bigger dose of imagination and creativity when those were handed out. It has definitely inspired me to reach higher and to try some new things!
I didn't see all of the demonstrations that I had planned on, but I think I caught most of the them. The pull of the vendor area was strong and a few times I found myself skipping a demo because I was so busy browsing, talking with the vendors, and parting with my hard earned cash!
For the demos, I managed to see:
Stewart Mortimer on basic spiral work (something I definitely plan on trying).
Mike Lee on carving and texturing, he does some amazing work with methods that don't require a huge outlay of cash, he's also a very entertaining demonstrator.
J. Paul Fennell on decorative techniques and design (picked up some great tips there) and also on homemade tools and jigs (which I've also seen him demo at our local club).
Andy Cole on NE bowls with a flair and also NE nested sets, another entertaining demonstrator. I don't know that I would use his method for coring, but it's interesting to see another way of doing it.
Joey Richardson on piercing and texturing, more great tips picked up at this one.
Lyle Jamieson on advanced hollowing techniques (just a step up from the basic hollowing techniques that I saw at our local symposium last year).
So many more that I wanted to see, but again sometimes with the pull of the vendor area or chatting with other turners I just managed to lose track of the time.
I also spent some time with Jim Adkins, really nice guy! his son Dean, Reed Gray, met Jerry Prosise and some other turners who's names I don't recall, don't mean to sound like a broken record, but every one of them were just really great people!
The Banquet was good and the EOG auction was very interesting and had some really great pieces. The auctioneers were great and they really squeezed out every dime they could on some of the pieces. I don't recall what the highest winning bid was, but I know I saw at least one for $7,000 + or -, but I was a bit surprised at how little some of the pieces went for.
I brought a bunch of mesquite and carob with me and found homes for all of it, and even picked up some cool wood to take home, Thanks Baxter and Ron? (remembering names is definitely not my strong point)!
There is so much to see and so much that I missed, it would take a lot more planning and organization than I have (that's not saying much), to be able to take in everything there is to see and do.
The last rotation on Sunday ended at 3:30 and by 4pm I was on the road back home, managed to drive straight though and got home around 3:30am. A very long weekend, but I'm very glad I was able to go and I enoyed every minute of it. I'll probably miss 2013, but I can't wait for 2014 right here in my own back yard!

[Dick Mahany]

This was my first time attending the symposium. I was overwhelmed by the talent there and the exhibit galleries were absolutely incredible. I managed to attend 12 sessions and found every one of them very informative and many were entertaining at the same time. Richard Raffan was fun to watch even though he had to use someone else's tool as his were stuck in transit during the session I attended. I got to see Lyle Jameison and Mike Jackofsky who both did hollow forms and had very opposing views on how to do it. It showed me that there isn't neccessarily a right or wrong way to do every thing (so maybe there is hope for me yet !) Andy Cole was outstanding with his infectuous enthusiasm and humor and his natural edge Hawiian bowls were stunning. Mike Lee has an incredible talent for carving and texturing beyond turning and shared some very enlighting, yet simple techniques. Joey Richardson did a spectacular job demonstrating piercing, burnng, coloring, and shared many techniques in great detail. Eli Avisera made a beautiful platter of big leaf maple and demonstrated his techniques for mosaic and Jersulaem stone embellishments. Stuart Mortimer aslo did a hollow form and showed to make his signature spiral finials.

For me it was great to actually get to talk briefly with such excellent and talented artists and it was a truly rewarding experience. I also got to meet a few creekers. In all, it was a very rewarding experience and I'm still swimming in all of the different techniques and details that were so freely shared. I'd recommend the symposium whole heartedly to anyone who has never attended one.

[Bernie Weishapl]

John I have to agree. I loved my time at the Richmond Symposium. Meeting fellow creekers along with people like Bill Grumbine, Al Stirt, Larry Hasiak, on and on was a great experience. Loved the gallery with the exception it made me realize how far I had to go to up my game. lol

[Scott Hackler]

Sounds like you all really had fun. I sure wish I could have made it, but oh well. The thing I gathered, the most, from St Paul was the level of workmanship on display. It was very humbling for the cocky new turner! Because of my observations, I came home inspired to elevate my own work and strive for perfection.

Of course meeting the talent and the fellow Creekers was a BIG part of my adventure.

[Reed Gray]

I guess the one I took in the most from was the panel with Dave Ellsworth, Gram Priddle, and two other turners that I didn't know. It centered on being a good demonstrator, and instructor. I am on the right path, now, I need more, as my old martial arts instructor would say, "victims of circumstances".

robo hippy